Manhart Has Made The E31 BMW M8 We Never Got

The original, E31-generation BMW 8-series is an icon of understated ’90s cool, but one thing it always lacked was a fully-fledged M version. A single prototype was built, featuring a 6.0-litre, 631bhp V12 distantly related to the one in the McLaren F1, but it would have proven far too costly to produce, and the range-topping 8-series remained the 5.6-litre, 375bhp 850CSi.

Now, though, German tuning company Manhart has given us what we always deserved: a restomodded 8-series which is effectively an E31 M8 in all but name. It’s called the MH8 5.0 V8, and as the name gives away, it goes for eight-cylinder power rather than the V12 that powered the top 8-series in period. It’s the naturally aspirated S62 from the E39 BMW M5 – often considered to be the finest M5 of all – and there’s some cheeky rounding up going on, as it’s actually a 4.9-litre.

Not that matters particularly: the engine still produces 414bhp, far exceeding any original 8-series, and drives the rear wheels through the M5’s six-speed manual gearbox. Manhart says the drivetrain swap transforms the 8-series “from luxurious gran turismo to powerful thoroughbred sports car.”

To facilitate this new personality, the MH8 gets uprated brakes and sits on H&R lowering springs and Bilstein shocks. It wears a set of Manhart’s own 20-inch wheels, wrapped in Continental Sport Contact 7 rubber.

The interior has been treated to a reupholster, with new leather on the seats and dashboard and lashings of Alcantara throughout. Besides the wheels, though, the E31’s effortlessly stylish looks are left entirely intact, which is the best thing about all of this.

The bad news? Manhart is only making five of these painfully cool machines. There’s no word on how they’ll cost either, but we’d bet on many thousands of Euros.